Welcome to Outboard

Power Shift

Some of my favorite adventures have been fueled by outboards. As a kid, that meant summer afternoons pretending to be a Navy SEAL and beaching my parents’ dinghy at a speed I’m thankful they never caught me doing. These days, my favorite mornings start with a yank of my Suzuki’s pullcord and puttering through a mooring field toward shore. Sunrise, my small family and a smooth-running motor: There’s no better way to start the day. And okay, fine, maybe I still zip around occasionally pretending to be a Navy SEAL; I know more than a few of you do the same, don’t lie.

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Recently, our reporting has allowed me to run some incredible outboard-powered boats. A few months back I was aboard a hell-bent Mag Bay 33 as it carved turns through canyons of red rock in Arizona as the sun disappeared below the mountains. The unrelenting heat and dry weather coupled with the wind in my face made me feel as if I was in a movie. Now anytime I see a commercial for dry eyes, I think of that trip and smile.

A couple weeks ago, I ran the Ocean Alexander 45 Divergence in rough seas off Key Largo, Florida. Powering through 6-foot-plus swells with spray flying all around was, for lack of a better phrase, a blast. I tested the boat’s massive fold-down gunwales and dove into the salty sea. I had to keep reminding myself that the boat I was on was an Ocean Alexander, a builder whose next smallest boat is a 70-foot motoryacht.

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The boatbuilding industry has seen a remarkable, well, I guess the best word is divergence in recent years. The advent of more powerful outboards with their perceived easier maintenance has encouraged builders to offer new models with this propulsion. Not to be outdone, Viking and Sunseeker recently announced that they, too, would be entering the outboard market.

Nowhere was this outboard craze more prevalent than the 2019 Miami International Boat Show. Where once the HCB 65 was the king of the dock and the talk of the town, now builders like Scout and Cigarette were cutting into the popularity pie thanks to transoms filled with six—yes, six—outboards apiece.

This isn’t a new trend. We’ve been reporting on this power surge for the last few years. Like the boatbuilders we cover, we were forced to contemplate how these new models and engines were going to shape our industry and our role in it. We love outboard-powered boats—what with the speed and convenience they offer, and the younger boaters they’re helping to attract to our sport—they always have and always will be a part of the Power & Motoryacht DNA. But we also recognize that we could fill issue after issue with in-depth outboard features. We simply needed more space.

So with that in mind, last November the team behind this venerable marine brand branched out and launched our first issue of OUTBOARD magazine. With the tag line Experience More, it’s an exciting companion to Power & Motoryacht that allows us to go more in-depth on the adventures these boats allow their owners to have. The first issue hit the docks and earned great acclaim. We upped the ante again with our second issue that went to press in April. For being such a loyal, engaged readership, you’re invited to join us on this journey and receive the next issue of the magazine (coming in October) as our free gift to you. (Yes, the magazine will be f-r-e-e, no credit card info required.) Simply head over to outboardmag.com, click “subscribe” and give us the address you want the next issue sent to. (Or fill out the same form below)

Whether outboards power your primary vessel, your second boat, your tender or just your inner Navy SEAL, I hope you enjoy our newest publication. But most of all, I hope together with your subscription to Power & Motoryacht, these stories inspire you to leave the dock and experience more.

See you on the water.

This article originally appeared in the June 2019 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.